Forsaking Him
by NarutoAddict4Ever
Summary: When Levi loses his squad in the battle against the female titan, injures his leg and is put out of commission for the Stohess battle, he decides to go see Sansa Brandt, an old friend, to rekindle what they once had. Unfortunately for him, Sansa is not ready to pick up from where they left off just yet. Forced to face the consequences of decisions long made - [FULL SUMMARY INSIDE ]
1. Of Silver Linings

**Of Silver Linings**

 ** _Summary:_** When Levi loses his squad in the battle against the female titan, injures his leg and is put out of commission for the Stohess battle, he decides to go see Sansa Brandt, an old friend, to rekindle what they once had. Unfortunately for him, Sansa is not ready to pick up from where they left off just yet. Forced to face the consequences of decisions long made, they try not to step on anymore toes as they fall back into their miserable back-and-forth.

 _"Why did you really leave me?"_

 **[CHAPTER START]**

 _Clink, thud._

Her eyes shoot open in alarm. For a grueling moment, she strains to listen for any misplaced noise in her bedroom, and when she hears nothing beyond the townspeople's comings and goings from the window, she tugs her sheets above her head in a feeble attempt at security and closes her eyes.

 _Clink, slurp._

She stiffens. There is someone in her room for sure.

Sansa grips her nightgown and counts backwards from ten to calm her racing heart. If the intruder wanted to harm her, they had the perfect opportunity to do so when she was asleep a few minutes ago, and seeing as she was still _perfectly alive and very vulnerable_ , she concluded that they weren't there to kill her.

 _But what if they were those type of sick bastards that loved a squirming prey?_

She could feel her thundering heart on her hot ears as she readied herself to spring out of her bed and lunge wildly at the intruder, whom by now was a mere six steps from the edge of her bed. She calls forth her military training ages ago, and with steely blue eyes, she throws her sheets behind her and is in a lunging position before it hits the ground, but before she can jump and throw the first punch, she freezes in her tracks.

Sitting there by a table propped by the door, watching her and drinking casually from her favourite mug is _fucking Levi._

"Are you kidding me?!" Sansa hollers hysterically, as he lifts the translucent mug to his lips and stares at her with raised eyebrows. "How...what the hell are you doing?!"

"What does it look like? I'm drinking your piss?" is his flat response as he puts the mug down on what she notices now is one of _her_ dinner plates.

" _Oh_ , I thought some creep broke into my house, and," she pauses and lifts her eyes to meet his, "apparently a creep _did_ break into my house, to drink _my tea_ \- I hope that isn't the goddamn expensive one."

"It is."

He leisurely dodges a pillow. And a candlestick. And another candlestick.

"I don't get why you're so mad - you clearly bought them for me."

 _"Hah?!"_

Levi pushes the mug and plate away.

"You hate tea, and you barely have any friends that're still alive." He catches a drawer this time, and narrows his eyes at the fuming redhead. _"Stop it!"_

"You still don't have a damn filter huh?"

"And you're still a fucking psychopath."

"You're the one who broke into my house and watched me sleep for who knows how long! I mean, who _does_ that?!"

"The fact that you waited so long before you reacted was deplorable. If I was anyone else, you would've been dead by now, or..." his silver-blue eyes shine for a split second. "Is that one of your kinks Sansa? You like the attention?"

She went for her original plan, and lunged at him.

Levi anticipates it and catches her forearms. He cushions the force of her momentum with his chest as he pulls her upright on his lap, while his suit jacket falls off his shoulders and onto the chair. She surprisingly doesn't struggle and with a loud, annoyed sigh, she settles her weight on him.

"Isn't this precious, giving up so soon?" he mocks, despite resting his arms on her waist. She noiselessly shifts to face him with half-lidded eyes, her arms looping around his shoulders. He raises his eyebrows when she gives him one of her smiles - the bright, angelic kind, like the world is beneath her feet and the stars are within her reach - and for a second, the apprehension that stretched him since he was brewing the gone tea was replaced by a sense of familiarity and comfort.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here Senpai?" she croons, tilting her head to further her innocent act, and Levi falls for it for a second when she notices him relax onto the chair. But it's only a second; he realizes that little, yet potentially harmful question snatched the win effortlessly from him. He should've known by now. It didn't matter how her rose red hair grew from just past her shoulders down to her lower back, it didn't matter how her once expressive cornflower blue eyes now gave away no hints, and it didn't matter how much softer her skin had become. She was still the same girl he once knew.

And that scared him a little.

"I needed a quiet place to drink some tea, brat."

He wasn't going to admit it though.

Sansa stares at him.

"I expected to unwind and yet, you don't even have a proper tea set for shit's sake."

She glares at him without a word.

"Also, your kitchen was a fucking pigsty, I had to wipe down everything before it was remotely usable."

She smirks a little.

Levi clicks his tongue before he pulls her hair as a punishment, and surprisingly enough she sits there and takes it. He even twists his wrist and pulls, but she only sticks her tongue out and laughs like he was a mere tantrumming child.

"Tch, is this turning you on? How low have you sunken brat?"

"Low enough that I haven't kicked you out yet, although, I guess that makes me a good person huh?" she taps his wrist as a gesture to release her hair, and when he makes no move to, Sansa sighs with frustration. "If I was any other person, you would've been dead by now, Humanity's Strongest Soldier."

He grimaces a little. "Don't call me that."

Her smile widens considerably. "Isn't someone being an ungrateful little dick?"

"Stupid, isn't humanity supposed to be grateful?"

"I meant the fact that I haven't killed you yet Senpai."

Levi pulls her hair again.

"You're still a cute, adorable sweetheart, ne?"

He pinches her side this time with a sneer.

"In need of a hug and a long make out session."

He throws her off of him, and she lands on her ass with a resounding thud, her downstairs neighbour hollers to keep it down.

 _"Fucking perverted little brat."_

"Well that answers one of the questions I was going to ask."

For several minutes, they sit there quietly, each in their own thoughts. Her neighbours prattle on about entitled military folk and leases, their muffled shouts hitting deaf ears who've heard the whole _'the scouts are a waste of our precious taxes'_ rant a hundred times too many. Levi sighs noiselessly and breaks the silence.

He tells her everything. From the previous expeditions' findings, to Eren Jaeger, how the decision of putting him in his regiment was made,the 57th Expedition, and the titan shifter in their midst, sparing no details. Of course, he said it in his crude way, like the whole thing was as annoying as his (now known by her) injured leg, but from previous years of knowing him, she took notice of the subtle changes in his eyes. The flashes of anguish, the humiliation, the unbridled rage of being ignorant to the whole ordeal was as clear as day to her. But it was when he finally mentioned his slaughtered team last, and turned to face her once again in his own twisted way of seeking atonement, Levi finds her tearing up, reaching out to hug him.

"What -"

"Give me a minute," she cuts him off, sighing into his shoulder with the power of all the battle wounds she had kept locked away when she quit the military years ago. It stirs up a certain turmoil - one he feared would surface on his walk to her home - in his chest, he couldn't bring himself to hug her back because of it. "Levi."

He hasn't heard his name fall from her lips for years now, and the sorrowful, regretful yet selfishly relieved tone laced around it tipped his sanity off its feet just the same. Before he knew it, he wrenched her off of him and held her in place, hands firmly grasping her shoulders and eyes burning with the intensity of a thousand suns pinning her own glassy ones.

"Why did you really leave me?"

 **[CHAPTER END]**

 **AN: Hello, you've stumbled upon my first Shingeki no Kyojin fanfiction. This isn't my first rodeo writing-wise (you can check out my profile for my other accounts), but it is my first time writing Levi, so please, if you can leave a review with your thoughts, what you felt about Levi and Sansa's dynamic, what you think is going on or what happened, that would be awesome.**

 **I've had this idea floating around in my head for days and decided to throw this out there and see if it was as good as I thought it would be. Hopefully, you guys like it, and if that happens (do I sound like a hopeful schmuck? fml) I'm going to take you on a damn ride :D :D :D**

 **Disclaimer** : _I do not own any of the characters besides Sansa (and any coming OCs). The edited cover art is mine, only the original picture belongs to its rightful artist. Beyond the obvious canon things (ex: Eren being a titan, Levi being from the underground) the plot is indefinitely mine._


	2. Eins - Brave Cowards

**[CHAPTER START]**

* * *

 **Eins**

 **Brave Cowards**

 ** _A Few Years Ago~_**

 _"- with a forty percent mortality rate for new cadets alone -"_

"Half of them look like they're about to shit themselves..."

Erwin Smith levels his calculating gaze at the apprehensive faces, noiselessly searching for potential recruits as Commander Shadis gives his speech. He sighs to himself before glancing at the scowling soldier beside him. "They should know what they're sacrificing their lives for, don't you think so, Levi?"

"They should've know that when they enlisted," he refutes without skipping a beat, "maybe they haven't learned a thing since."

Erwin quips a short agreement before listening to the Commander's final words.

 _"- is your choice unfortunately. Whoever plans to join the Survey Corps stay where you are, and whoever plans to join the other brigades, as of now, may be dismissed_."

With that seemingly horrific speech, most didn't waste any time turning right around and walking off determinedly, while some stood shivering wildly in their spots for a few moments before they mustered up what little courage they had left to move their frigid legs and leave the ceremony grounds. Either way, the wave of cadets leaving caused the Commander and the present Scouts a little disheartenment. What was more, after a few more seconds of watching them leave, the Scouts realized that _all of them_ seemed to be walking away.

"Is this going to be a new record of failure for the Survey Corps?" mused Barrett, following it with a sardonic laugh when Levi glanced at him. He then turns to look decisively _away_ from the recently recruited, formerly 'infamous' thug.

"Why so nervous Barrett?" Ovidia scolds, not looking at Levi herself but glowering dangerously at the departing cadets. "Stand straight and burn those cowards' backs to your brain."

Barrett sniffs to himself but obeys nonetheless.

"I see that's it for today," Commander Shadis sighs broodingly, about to dismiss the Scouts as well, when Erwin taps his shoulder. The older man faces him, only to find him staring at the cleared grounds with a telling expression. He follows his line of sight and raises his eyebrows.

The ceremony grounds was dark and barren, lit only by the massive torches by the stage's sides. All the cadets had vacated a few moments ago and left the Scouts as the only people remaining.

All but one.

"Looks like someone decided to join the Survey Corps," Erwin points out with a barely prominent smile.

"Cadet! State your name!"

"Sansa Brandt, sir!" the lone cadet exclaims with a decisive salute.

"Hold on, is she _grinning?_ " Barrett screeches with a bemused look.

"Cadet Brandt!" the Commander calls, ignoring Barrett's comment. "Are you prepared to become titan food?!"

"Not in the coming five years sir!" Sansa responds, her smile growing.

The thick, resounding silence after that statement, and the varying degrees of confusion from the Scouts caused her to laugh awkwardly and slacken her salute. Erwin coughs to lessen the tension and asks, "Are you sick?"

"Probably in the head," Ovidia mumbles quietly enough for the Scouts to hear, which makes Barrett laugh.

"No, sir! That is a bet I made with my father and I intend to win!" her smile turns fond for a second, before she straightens herself. "As for my head, that is entirely debatable," the younger girl directs to the now glowering older one, who clenches her fists irritably.

"This isn't a game brat! If you think the titans care about your inane goals than you better be ready to be of the 40 percent dying next month!"

"Technically, I am the entire 40 percent..." Sansa turns around, noting the lack of her fellow cadets in the vicinity. "Bummer, huh?"

"Oi, idiot, you should shut the hell up now."

The Scouts look astonished at Levi's assertive command, while he narrows his eyes at the new recruit unapologetically. To their further surprise, the girl listens to him and doesn't say a word after that, but her cheerful smile barely falters despite it.

"This is your final chance to join the other brigades Cadet Brandt!" Commander Shadis breaks the silence, his darkened eyes staring straight at her. "Are you prepared to fight for the cause?!"

Sansa drops her smile instantly as her expression and posture hardens, almost as naturally as breathing, before leveling her gaze at the Commander. The torches light up and accentuate her petite stature, illuminating the fiery red undertones of her hair, and practically irradiating the brilliant blues of her now resolute eyes.

"I _never_ regret my choices, sir!"

Barrett seems suspicious, whilst Ovidia rolls her eyes. Erwin notices Levi's subtle change in posture, before whispering to him, "I like the look on her face too." To which Levi responds with a dismissive, "Tch."

Keith Shadis nods and folds his hands behind his back. "Welcome to the Survey Corps, Cadet Brandt!"

Her cheerful smile returns full blast.

* * *

The following morning, news spread among the Scouts about the happy-go-lucky girl being the only cadet to join them that night, and as it turns out, they were able to find out she was from a small farming land in the west of Wall Rose where her father was the local farmer of and she was the only child to. They deduced that the poor father might have been sick of the eccentric girl's antics and sent her to die, otherwise, they see no way in which the redhead would join the Survey Corps.

All they were sure of was the reason was certainly _not_ for a bet.

To Ovidia's dismay, the silly girl was put in her squad on the basis that she would " _toughen up under your tight command"_ that sounded more to her like they couldn't be bothered with her attitude and saw that she was the only one who wasn't faltered by it. Despite this clear setback, Ovidia did not plan to ease in the new girl like the section-squad commanders were supposed to, but to treat her like the adult she was and throw her into the mix head-on.

Needless to say, the younger girl was determined. She would accept any task (however menial or jarring it could be) with a complying smile and complete it efficiently, even when Ovidia or whoever else in charge of the girl at that time would immediately send her off to do something else.

"What are you smiling for, Brandt?!"

"Wouldn't you when you're told to tend to the stables a third day in a row?"

Let's just say the older girl was not that amused.

"Uhh, what're you doing here?"

"Isn't this one of the men's barracks?" the redhead asks as an afterthought, dropping a bucket full of supplies on the floor.

"Um..." the boy fumbles to gather his bearings, but when Sansa smiles encouragingly at him while raising a coy eyebrow, he flushes red and loses it altogether. He starts sputtering nonsense nervously, brown eyes darting everywhere but the girl in front of him and sweaty hands scratching the back of his blond head.

" - and _yeah,_ this is our barracks, I mean, not _ours_ ours _,_ but the guys'. Not that you're not welcome, I...I mean that might seem inappropriate but...uhh..."

"Ah, thank you...?"

"Hernan! My name is Hernan Godfrey!" he introduces himself quickly at her nudge, and when there's a beat of awkward silence between them, he blushes a little as he asks, "Yeah, what's your name?"

"Is this supposed to be a party hall? Move."

Hernan blanches when he hears the low, chilling voice of one of his roommates and doesn't think twice about ditching his newfound friend and high-tailing out of there. Sansa watches him run off with a bewildered look, before meeting the eyes of one angry-looking scout.

"What are you doing here exactly?" he asks menacingly, only to receive her signature smile and a pointed look at the abandoned bucket of cleaning supplies on the floor. Levi barely acknowledges it. "Didn't you clean the stables already?"

"This is my reward for it."

"Well, I was planning to clean it anyways, so leave."

Sansa stares at him for a second, what seems to Levi like she's weighing her options, and before he can show her how he could intimidate her faster than her squad leader, she picks up a rag and turns towards the bunks. "Then I guess we can get it done faster together."

"Hah?"

"I said," Sansa twirls to face him with a grin. "we can get it done faster _together._ I'm not about to abandon my task or one of my comrades!" With that exclamation, she turns to her job once more, missing the surprised look on Levi's face. He watches her wipe down the wood and mumble something about _dirty men_ which snaps him out of his reverie and makes him narrow his eyes.

"Tch, you're doing it wrong." He goes up behind her and snatches the rag, showing her the proper way to do it with a tight expression. Sansa lifts her chin and lowers her head backwards until her eyes meet his, showing him her annoyed look, before snatching back her rag and doing it in what he deemed as _the wrong way_ in spite. Levi tries to suppress his anger when she blatantly rejects his help, and stomps away to pick up a different rag.

They continue their work in silence, each ignoring the other. Within half an hour, the barracks are spotless and orderly, Levi is dumping the supplies back into the bucket before handing it to her, and Sansa is shooting him a grateful smile despite their minor disagreement.

"Thank you for your help! I couldn't have finished so early without it!"

"Levi."

Her smile falls for a second and she tilts her head in confusion, before her eyes glimmer and her smile reaches the moon.

"Sansa _I'm better at cleaning than you_ Brandt!" she introduces with a throw of her fiery hair and a giggle. "Oh, that was lame. Gotta work on that."

"Only in your delusional head."

Levi watches the blithe girl walk off while talking to herself, and hadn't heard his response or shown any indication of acknowledgement, which left him a little more bitter than he was when he found her flirting with that Hernan kid.

"Fucking delusional idiot."

* * *

 **Fun fact: _The name Sansa means praise, invocation, or charm while the name Brandt means_** **_"dweller on burnt land", fiery, torch, or sword (warrior)_. Keep reading~**

* * *

The mess hall was as peaceful as one would imagine it to be, especially after a hard day's work and the looming expedition that was a mere two and a half weeks away. The chatter between the tables were dull and quiet.

"- and did you clean the barracks like I told you to?"

"Yes, they're now as lovely as this soup."

"You seem like you're overworking the poor girl," Barrett chimes, chewing on his bread rather obnoxiously. Ovidia raises a questioning eyebrow, which causes him to sigh with frustration. "I mean, she helped prepare the breakfast, cleaned the stables _again,_ and now you made her clean the barracks too?"

"Not that I have to explain myself to the likes of _you,_ but, she sassed her superior when asked a simple question and that's grounds for a punishment."

Sansa was content to watch them quietly as she ate her food.

" _Sassed a superior?_ What rule book makes that a thing?" he snorts.

"The one you likely didn't read. And why're you getting so mouthy with me, Barrett? Is it to impress little miss smiles over there?"

Barrett sputters. " _Wha-_ I just - I am -"

Ovidia shakes her head. "I rest my case."

"Hey, Ovidia," the girl in question faces her with a grimace. "What's the deal with Levi?"

Sansa notices her expression darken as she purses her lips trying to suppress her anger. The frightening aura that rolls off of her doesn't help, especially when Barrett inches himself and the tray in front of her away from her reach.

"He was recruited barely a few months ago by Erwin." She points at the tall blond man Sansa recognized from the ceremony. "Him and two others that seemed to be his friends. The three of them were criminals from the Undergroud before."

"The two, a man and a woman, died during their first expedition." Barrett chimes in with a mouthful of food.

"Oh..."

"Exactly. Don't get too cocky or you'll die a horrible death like they did."

Ovidia carefully watches the girl retreat into her thoughts, her face falling into that rare serious expression she's seen only once before, and almost feels bad about treating her so harshly. She dismisses the thought; she only wanted her to improve under her care and guide her to humanity's victory one day. Assuming the younger girl didn't die before then.

"Thank you for sharing, Ovidia."

 _Maybe she won't die,_ the squad leader thinks with a small smirk.

"Hey, I contributed too!"

 _I hope he dies, damn bastard._

The atmosphere is lightened considerably as the two begin to bicker back and forth, while Sansa watches it with an amused look, non-privy to the attention they were receiving from another table.

"She's fitting in well enough."

"Nah, not with her stinking attitude. I mean, _what is this_ , a game to her?"

"I heard she used to be a party girl!"

"No way!"

"Yeah, and her parents forced her to do work around the farm they live in so they could feed her illegitimate baby!"

"Do you think she'll let -" a tray slammed down next to the frightened gossip girl, and before she could release a frustrated groan, Levi sits down and picks up his cup. He glances around at the suddenly quiet table and raises a brow.

"Well go on then, no one important is listening anyway."

The girl glances at the two other boys before they all get up and vacate the table without a word, muttering about _did you see how he holds his cup? I told you I wasn't making it up!_

 _"_ What a fucking poet," Levi mumbles over his tea.

" - like a damn pro! I mean, at least he's talented and fighting for humanity!"

"Well if it wasn't done the proper way, what's the point! He could _shove_ his thuggish way far up his -"

Ovidia stops mid-rant when she notices Sansa wave at someone with her overly bright smile, and when she turns around to see who the unlucky sap was, she blanches before grabbing her wrist and slamming it down. "What the _hell?!_ "

"He's just sitting there by himself! Why can't he join us?"

Barrett glances at Levi who's a few tables away, before quickly looking away when he notices the guy staring intensely at them while sipping his tea. "I...I...I don't mind that much honestly."

" _Barrett!"_

"What! I just stated my opinion!"

While they began to argue once again, Sansa took the opportunity to smile and wave at Levi with her free hand. He merely stares back at her, lifting the cup to his lips without any form of acknowledgement beyond that. She mock glares at him, waving her hand towards herself in a gesture to come sit with them, and when he doesn't move an inch, she sighs rather loudly, catching the attention of the bickering duo, before facing away from him.

"Sansa?"

"You okay there?"

"Is this what rejection feels like?"

And with that, she was forced to clean the stables the rest of the week.

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]  
**

* * *

 **AN:** **A special shout-out to skycord1990 and XxNimith531xX for following and favouriting, as well as Ipandas and Kelleighlizz for following this story already, and to you wonderful reader for giving this your attention. Here we see Sansa's initial impression, a few more OCs that may or may not impact some things, and a glimpse into the not-so-attached life of Levi. If you're wondering how he becomes attached to Sansa as depicted in the prologue, you're in for a treat. Please leave a review with your thoughts and I'll happily respond to anything and everything.**

 ** _Season three though..._**

* * *

 **Next Chapter Preview ~**

"Oh _damn._ Did you see that?!"

 _"Everyone fucking saw it idiot."_

"She...she threw him off a _cliff?!_ "

 **Stay tuned!**

 **(-who do I think I am haha-)**


	3. Zwei - Close Encounters

**SHOUT OUTS TO Sahara W FOR FAVOURITING AND Uruvia, SaChan22, and KaliRenee FOR FOLLOWING AND Valen Goncalvez FOR DOING BOTH!**

 **Responses to Reviews -**

 **Kelleiglizz: O _hhh I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint and you continue to read my story!_**

 **BraziaRios: _Sorry for the absence; I was settling into Uni again and forgot to publish this (I've had it typed and ready to publish days ago) so...w_ _ait no longer my darling :D_**

 **Valen Goncalvez: _Hey triple threat :D Thanks for showing your support!  
_**

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF YOU!  
**

* * *

 **Zwei**

 **Close Encounters**

 **Part I**

 **Bad Behaviour**

* * *

 **[CHAPTER START]  
**

* * *

 _When did I become this person?_

Several hands reached out, despite being nowhere near them, their screams of encouragement falling on deaf ears.

 _Then again, how would I know what kind of person I am?_

As she ran, she watched her fellow teammates scramble to reach it, the ones with the ODM gear that is, and wondered for a split second if she had one, would she be able to have done it justice?

 _Minute decisions make us who we are, huh?_

The realization of them not being able to win overwhelmed her as she and a dozen others - foes and teammates alike - desperately shot their hands to the green flag on the top of the rock in a last attempt, and when it dawned upon her that no one could get to it faster than he could, especially with his gear, she made the most futile yet solidifying decision of her life.

 _Maybe this is who I am._

She sprinted out of her course when his fingers grazed the pole of the flag and lunged wildly at him, using her entire body to tackle him away from victory. Unbeknownst to her, when she had shoved the both of them away from the flag, the impact of their collision threw them further than she anticipated -

And over the edge. Literally.

 _This is who I am._

 **~Seven hours before the activity~**

"Tending to the horses once again, Cadet?"

Sansa shoots her head up, frantically looking around in confusion before she realizes she must have nodded off, on her feet as well. Erwin stares at her with an unreadable, calculating expression, before he points at the flailing horse.

"Oh!" She lifts the bucket of fodder to the reaching horse and mutters a "Sorry, Ace."

The three of them fall into an almost companionable silence, the morning breeze hitting the right spot and indicating another peaceful day of training and preparing for the upcoming expedition. It's almost a little too peaceful, Erwin thinks, as his ever blue eyes size up the smaller girl. She's watching the horse feed with a dazzling smile on her face, as if this was the first time she's experienced it, and for some reason or the other, he didn't like it.

"Hold on, you asked me a question, didn't you?" she ironically questions herself, finally looking at him before recoiling - to his surprise. "Can you please repeat your question, sir?"

Erwin sighs. "Have you not been sleeping well?"

"It's not that, sir," she pets Ace before moving to refill the bucket. "I guess it's the inertia..."

"What do you suggest we do?"

Sansa glances at him, her smile dropping. He's watching her too intently, she thinks, ready with a response for all the possible responses she hasn't made yet, and for some reason or another, she didn't like it.

"When I was a kid, I used to watch other kids play in the fields. Everyday the game would change," she lifts her now full bucket towards the next horse, Spear, her expression still somber. "One time, they came up with the idea to stick a flag somewhere high and race towards it, and from what I could gather, whoever won would dictate what they would play the next day."

Erwin walks around her as he paints the picture she was describing in his head, reaching out to pet Spear, but he couldn't imagine her as happy as her smiles made her seem to be when she looked so humorless when talking to him. "How come you never played with them?"

The thrum of soldiers moving about filled the air, and before he could walk away once he realized she wouldn't respond, she does so. "My father never let me."

"Ah."

" _Anyways!_ " she booms, a fond smile returning to her face. "I'm sure you don't need me prattling on about my childhood woes, _if you can call them that,_ and just wanted some down time from all that planning you've been doing! But I guess I shouldn't be so presumptuous, saying what you're doing here with me when it's really none of my business - _am I rambling?"_

"No," Erwin places a hand on her shoulder, surprising the younger girl with a smile of his own. "Minute decisions make us who we are. Sometimes we need to be brutally honest with each other to understand ourselves."

Sansa bursts out laughing.

Erwin stares at her like she turned into a titan* and he was obligated to slay her.

"Thank you for keeping me company, Squad Leader Erwin!" she taps his hand on her shoulder, a brightening smile on her face. The formality by which she talks to him and the pure kindness that drips from her words makes him wish for things he doesn't want to wish for. Despite this, he removes his hand and nods in acceptance, and when she turns away from him to finish her task, he gets an idea.

"Thank you too, Cadet."

Sansa turns back towards him, a question on her lips, when she finds him walking away from her already. She stares at his back, the Wings of Freedom insignia glaring back at her before she looks at Spear and shrugs.

"Well Ace, Spear, I guess we're on a hit list now. Shame, huh?"

"GET TO WORK SANSA!"

* * *

 **Fun fact: _Sansa enjoys sleeping and oftentimes would nod off on a job, making her father adopt the habit of carrying around a bucket of water to rouse her. Alas, his chosen method of discipline was fruitless, so he eventually let her sleep as long as she finished her chores before sundown._**

* * *

"I wonder what's going on..."

"Why're we wasting time standing here? I could be visiting home!"

"Hey, quiet down, Keith's speaking."

"Good morning squad leaders and cadets. You may be wondering what you all are doing here gathered in lines like this, but rest assured, today's plans aren't anything horrendous...mostly."

The Scouts stood at attention, unflinching, when he smiles creepily. Within themselves however was a different story entirely.

"In order to boost morale and teamwork within the Survey Corps, Section Commander Erwin has come up with a little activity for everyone," that said, Commander Shadis held up a green flag with the Wings of Freedom insignia on it. "I will plant this on a specific location, and it's up to the teams to obtain it in order to win the activity."

Ovidia turns to glare at one of her squad members, who made a very unladylike noise at the Commander's admission.

"Boost morale?"

"That sounds like a kids game..."

"What was Erwin thinking?"

"It sounds simple enough, but here are the conditions," Keith mentions solemnly. "The teams are the squads themselves, team leaders the corresponding section commanders, and only three members of each team can be given ODM gear. Absolutely anything is allowed. You all will have some time to prepare and think some strategies up, as well as decide who's best suited to use the gear. Everyone present must participate. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander!"

"Also, the winning team will receive a wish granted by myself personally. Work well with your teammates!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed! The activity begins in an hour!"

The soldiers followed their respective squad leaders to search for somewhere to discuss strategy, already coming up with rewards when they won in confidence. They were handed three gears per team and told to position themselves according to the assignment Commander Shadis had devised when noon struck.

Sansa looks around at the circle her and her team formed. She had been placed under Ovidia's command for a while now, and was used to her squad leader too, but some of the members, not so much. There was Barrett, who wasn't that bad, as far as his incessant need to pick a fight with Ovidia, he was still loyal and knew when to fall under her orders. Beyond him, there were two other girls in the team. She introduced herself to them, and went as far as greeting them every morning and striking up conversation here and there, but they hadn't reciprocated any of her advances to this day. The younger girl didn't even know their names.

" - so the two of you will guard our backs, seeing as the Commander said anything's free game, and serve as the decoys. They'll expect the ones using the ODM gear to be the distractions since the flag would be at ground level, so will go with this. Any objections?"

"I don't know, Ovidia, what if it isn't on ground level? Better yet, what if Sansa and I are given an opening? Do we take it?"

"Of course! If you have a chance, go for it. All I'm saying is keep your positions and do your roles justice, understood?" the three girls gear up, while Barrett glances at the new girl wearily. "As for the flag's location, use your own judgements to discern the best course of action. We're all capable soldiers! Put your faith in each other, but don't forget your own skills!"

"A question though..."

Ovidia raises an eyebrow."Yes?"

"Everybody is fair game, like you said, right? Including the other squad leaders?"

"If you can avoid engaging the others, I implore you to do so and focus on the win. However, if you're in a situation where we can't advance, don't hold back."

Sansa smirks evilly at that, to half her team's dismay. The other half didn't seem to care.

"Let's move."

* * *

If she had to use one word to describe what happened fifteen minutes after noon, she'd use the word 'anarchy'. It was as if everyone realized how getting anything they wanted from the Commander of the Survey Corps was the holy grail fifteen minutes in, and abandoned their posts. Screams and punches echoed in the air, and a good handful whizzed around like bugs in the air, desperately searching for the flag.

After what she dubs as _The Holy Anarchy_ started, and she lost her teammates in the chaos, it didn't take a genius to figure out she was searching for Erwin. Although, he was harder to catch seeing as he had one of the gears on his team and she was on foot. She already lost him on four different occasions, and by that last one, she started to think he was baiting her and zipping off when she got too close, which irked her even more. It didn't help when a particularly angry scout tried to pick a fight with her out of nowhere. Now, she was worn out from running around aimlessly, angry at Erwin, and just wanted this to be done with. It wasn't fun at all.

Before she could give up and sit down between some bushes, knowing she was small enough that no one would notice her if she did, she catches something in the corner of her eye.

Levi zooms past her in the air, his relaxed gaze connecting with her surprised one for a moment, and when his eyes looked away from her and decisively ahead, it seemed - dare she say it - inviting. She begins to sprint in the direction he was headed. While she chases after him, she spots Erwin drinking from a canister as another scout frantically spoke to him, and more importantly, _he was on the ground_.

Before any of them could process why a devilish-looking redhead was barrelling towards them, she slams her clenched fist on his jaw, the force of her punch making him stumble and hold the tree to steady him. The unnamed scout looks between them bemused, but before he could act, she's running away, cackling and yelling back a, "Eat it, bitch!"

She makes a mental note to thank Levi for unknowingly renewing her spirit.

After a half hour of running and hiding (she can never be safe after that stunt she pulled), Sansa notices a group of soldiers running in a very specific way. Her blue eyes squinted in the general direction they were headed, before zoning in on -

"THE FLAG IS - wait, do I honestly care?" she contemplates the meaning of her existence as she jogs towards the flag. The other scouts were practically mauling each other to slow their pace.

"SANSA BRANDT YOU BETTER MOVE YOUR ASS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

The shriek of a command hit a nerve of hers and caused her to start sprinting towards the flag. One of the girls she didn't know the name of kept yelling at her to move faster, despite sailing leisurely through the air herself.

"Hey, what's your name?" she asks with a pant, dodging and ducking and jumping over flailing limbs. She's almost with the crowd ahead of them. The girl was quiet for a moment, before she notices something and smirks to herself.

"If we win, I will tell you."

Sansa picks up her pace, her legs nearly groaning in exertion as she tried to keep her mind off of them giving way before she got there. Soon, she was among the people throwing themselves at the green flag. She momentarily wonders how she got there so fast, why people seemed to falter when they witnessed Levi swoop through the air and attempt to snatch it up, and the way Levi's fingers caressed the pole for a second.

Most of all, she wonders where she got the audacity to tackle him out of the way.

Levi should've shot his hooks out immediately and saved them both, but all he does is stare into her eyes, barely a hair apart from each other, as they helplessly and pitifully fall together. He snaps out of it and twists an arm around her waist and pulls her closer to his chest, his fingers about to push down to activate the grappling hooks, when his back hits a branch protruding out of the cliff and a groan escapes his lips. Her weight and the impact combined damages his gear, he panics for a second before pulling her flush on his body as they fall and curling into her to take the brunt of the collision.

That is all the spectators above see before the two disappeared into the trees at the bottom of the cliff and out of their line of vision.

"Oh _damn._ Did you see that?!"

 _"Everyone fucking saw it idiot."_

"She...she threw him off a _cliff?!_ "

They stared at each other, flag long forgotten, wondering what to do - if they should go after them or wait for a squad leader to come and assess the situation. Was the competition off or not? It was technically free-for-all, so they weren't responsible, right?

Right?

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]**

* * *

 **AN: No, Sansa is not a titan shifter. It's not one of those stories - she's completely human. I just saw an opportunity to use that line and took it ;D Next chapter picks off from this, and hopefully I maintain this somewhat weekly updating schedule I got unintentionally going on so stay tuned~**

* * *

 ** _Next Chapter Preview~_**

"Senpai!"

"Stop calling me that."

" _Senpai!"_

He momentously initiates a stare off. She smiles widely and narrows her eyes endearingly at him without blinking to mock him, and judging from his clenching jaw, she claims victory.

That is, before he reaches over and pushes her into the river.

 **Happy reading!**


	4. Drei - A Closer Encounter

**SHOUT OUTS TO Zephyranthus, j'adore12, queenofhunter93 AND suzume27 FOR FOLLOWING AND ******Lily Borja AND ThiefWicker** FOR DOING BOTH!**

 **Responses to Reviews -**

 **Lily Borja: _thank you so much for dropping some kind words. I literally moved my ass as soon as I saw it and finished two super long chapters too. I hope you like this._**

 **THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT MY LOVELIES AND PLEASE ENJOY NOT ONE BUT TWOOOO CHAPTERS~  
**

* * *

 **Drei**

 **A Closer Encounter**

 **Part II**

 **Good Intentions  
**

* * *

 **[CHAPTER START]  
**

* * *

"Oh! You're not dead!"

Despite squinting his eyes three-fourths of the way to cushion the glare of the Sun, he still felt like a searing hot poker was pressed onto them and burning away his eyelids. His hair was matted down and clinging to his disgustingly sticky face, his lips were pulled to an irritated sneer, and when he attempted to sit up after placing his hands on the damaged grass, he hissed in pain. Barely a heartbeat after a relenting groan and lying back down, a mess of red appeared in his line of vision and blocked the shitty Sun.

"I think you had a minor concussion from the fall, so you shouldn't move too quickly."

As if someone dropped a bucket of ice-cold water on him, he remembers what happened before he passed out.

"You threw me off a cliff."

"Well technically, I tackled you away from the flag."

"What kind of a shitty person are you?"

Sansa puts a finger on her chin and looks past him and to the sky, the sunlight brightening her smile, as she thinks for a second. "The disposable kind I guess."

"...hah?"

" _Anyways!_ " she throws her hands in the air. "We should find a way to get back, don't you think?"

Levi mutters a "Tch!" and pulls himself up to his feet, his body groaning at the exertion but not enough to hinder him. He immediately pulls out a handkerchief and wipes at his face to regain what little semblance of cleanliness he could, while he looks around for a water body in the area. It looks like they're in a forest a few kilometers away from the cliff they fell off from, nothing in the vicinity beyond tress and smaller vegetation, and his gear lying damaged and scattered all over the grass. He couldn't get them back up, so they probably had no other choice than to walk towards the north in hopes of finding some form of civilization. Turning around ready to take the position of leader and ordering her to move her butt, his eyes widen when he actually assesses her own wounds.

The younger girl shouldn't have gotten as injured as she seemed, seeing as she fell on him when they landed, but somehow, she managed to bandage her bleeding ankle with some random cloth over her shoe, and her thigh with her green cloak. Her face and hands were dirty and scratched up, and there was a large gash over her tan jacket along her forearm. She stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and a titled head, before looking down at herself. "Animal attack while you were down," she says with a smile and a shrug. "You shouldn't be standing yet though, the impact was horrible."

"Are you psychotic?" he walks towards her with a confused look, eyes wide and hysterical. "There's no way you're sane."

"What did I do now?" she huffs with an eye roll, to his surprise.

"You thought in your crap brain wrestling an animal while I was incapacitated was the right thing to do?!"

By now he was pulling at her handiwork to further assess the damage, ignoring her pained exclamation to be gentle. He steadily turns her leg from side to side, occasionally swatting her hands away without skipping a beat. Cursing under his breath, he quickly redoes the makeshift bandages before getting to his feet.

"We need to find some water to clean your wounds, or you'll lose your limbs. Can you stand?"

Sansa is quiet for a moment, before she heaves herself onto one leg pretty gracefully, but when she places her wounded leg on the grass, she screams in agony and stumbles in a manner that reminds Levi of a headless chicken. Nonetheless, he catches her upper arms before she falls, and sighs a long and frustrated breath. "Can you be any more of a burden than you already are?"

For a second, he sees tears well up in her cornflower blue eyes and her bottom lip quiver, and thinks she's going to start bawling. Her hands shake as she faces away from him to look down and take a deep breath, before her head shoots up and she glares at him with the most intense look he's ever seen on her - a look that showed how much of a repulsive scum she thought he was.

 _"Fuck you Levi."_

With that bold exclamation, she shoves his frozen form away from her and lands on her hands, wincing when the gash started dripping a little with the weight before she tries to figure out the least painful way of walking on her own. She doesn't even glance back at him to see his expression as she shifts on her feet.

"Next time when I wake up and see a wolf about to chomp your throat off, I'll be sure to not give a damn about you again."

She finds a good enough position and starts limping towards the east. With eyes dead-set on a goal, that was to prove how she didn't need him, and a will to ignore the searing pain frittering up and down her leg, she passes by him without any form of acknowledgment and continues on. After a few moments of it as well as trying to keep her shallow breathing from getting too frantic, she hears footfalls and crunching grass behind her and attempts to move quicker.

"You're going to have to limp faster than that."

She doesn't falter.

"You wouldn't be in this bad of a shape if you knew when to quit, idiot."

She stumbles a little before regaining her former composure.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Sansa abruptly turns towards him with a chilling look, despite her glassy eyes. "Why the hell are you so mean?!" Levi stops in front of her. "I've done _nothing_ but be civil - if not nice - towards you, yet you keep treating me like I'm this worthless nuisance that shouldn't even be here!"

"Hey -"

" _NO_ , you know what? I'm done listening to your bullshit Levi! So leave me the hell alone!"

With that, she spins on her good heel and marches off, ignoring the nausea bubbling up her throat and her suddenly spinning head. In a way, the discomfort of it kind of reminded her of the ex-thug she left behind, but before she could compare the similarities between her rising upchuck and the raven-haired man, she felt a burning jab on her neck (which didn't help her predicament at all) and nearly instantly, her knees gave way.

And everything went black.

* * *

 **Fun facts: _Sansa Brandt - Female; enlisted at 18 and joined the Scouts at 21; 5 ft (153 cm); 119 lbs (54 kg); blood type O._**

 ** _Appearance - Thick, chest length, rose red hair; cornflower blue eyes; slightly round face; pointed nose; fair complexion. Pulls her hair back in a tight bun when on duty, with a few strands falling out messily to frame her face, and wears a white, collared, button-up top beyond the standard military uniform._**

* * *

When you're busy dreaming about a life you could've had had you not gone and pursued something more in the name of freedom, you would prefer to get a reality check at that exact moment to pull you back from that nightmare. The thing is, if her reality was far worse than what it could've been, well, she wanted no part of it.

Why couldn't he get the hint?

"You're still alive, huh?" he sighs, taking a short glance at her before looking down, as if ashamed. "At least you didn't drool on me."

She blinks several times trying to adjust, before attempting to sit up when she felt the pressure of slouching for so long on her back, only to find herself involuntarily moving forward. There are hands that weren't hers clamped onto her thighs as well, holding her in place.

 _Come to think of it, what the hell am I pressed up on?!_

 _"Oh!"_

"Quit moving around, brat!"

"You're...you're _carrying me?_ When -"

"If we plan on making it before nightfall, this is the only way. It's not up for argument."

Sansa stares at the back of his head with a contemplative frown tugging her lips. It was true - her injuries, coupled with his lost gear was a big enough setback as it was, not to mention their fatigue from the activity and his overexertion after their fall. The fall she caused due to her reckless decision. In hindsight, he was valid in berating her and treating her so roughly. She had been so desperate to make friends that she had thrown all rationale and acted for that sole goal of getting the flag, endangering herself and a comrade, and throwing a tantrum when he threw the blame on her.

 _What kind of a shitty person am I?_

"I'm so sorry, Levi," she whispers, settling onto him in utter defeat, her body shaking in repressed sobs. "I..."

"Don't get your gross tears on my shirt."

Sansa comically shoots up and drops a fist on the top of his head, eyes wide and hysterical and all notions of bawling gone. "I'm apologizing and you care more about your shirt?! Ever heard of courtesy?!"

"Not everything is about you," Levi pipes up, looking back at her without faltering. "The sooner you accept that, the sooner people will take you seriously." He sees the flash of hurt in her eyes, before she looks away from him. The thought of apologizing himself crosses his mind for a moment, but before he could make his choice, her arms tighten on his shoulders and neck.

"I'm sorry."

Levi sighs. "Fine."

The remainder of the afternoon journey is spent in silence. At some point, the raven-haired man feels the weight on his back become a little heavier, not long after a red curtain falls on his face and hinders his sight. He shakes her in a feeble attempt to rouse her, only for her head to roll onto his shoulder instead. The heat of her breathing tickles the back of his ear as his scowl deepens and his cheeks flush crimson, his steps become a bit frigid and his fingers clench against her thighs. Levi looks down and flusters a bit more, for he then realizes where his hands are, and for the second time that day, he wonders what he's doing with the sunny girl. He lifts his head as much as he can, careful not to wake her this time, and stares up at the cloudy sky.

"Sunny, huh?"

It was a truly beautiful day.

"Did I drool this time?" Sansa mumbles as she yawns, stretching her arms above her.

He could do without her though.

* * *

"Well, this sucks."

"Maybe you shouldn't have thrown me off a damn cliff."

"Oh, get over it! I apologized a billion times, how many more do you need?"

"A shit-ton more."

She fruitlessly tries to hide her giggles and snorts behind her hands, while he raises his eyebrows in surprise. No one has ever laughed at his jokes, and he's always assumed they couldn't understand it, considering where he came from, but he didn't know whether to trust his roiling gut or his brain, seeing as they've never divided like this before in his life.

"Okay, _okay,_ fine. I'm so so so so _so_ sorry Levi-senpai!"

"Tch, don't call me that."

Sansa smiles brightly. "Whatever. What do we do about _that_ then?"

"I'll start a fire. Don't move -" he glances at her, sitting atop a log with her feet upright, caked in dried blood, before sighing to himself. " - not that you can anyways."

"Quit looking at me like that!"

Levi throws a look over his shoulder as he walks away to find some firewood. "Sure, as soon as you can depend on yourself, princess."

She blushes and makes a thoughtless noise. "SENPAI~!"

A few minutes later, he's back and she helps him pile the wood, and when he attempts to light it for a while too long, she offers to help and gets it started within two tries. Levi stares at her sheepishly smiling for a moment. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"My father taught me basic survival skills," her eyes travel to the blazing fire, losing a bit of its former mirth. "Not that he ever wanted me to use them..."

Levi settles on his own log across from her, sighing in relaxation when his muscles thrum with the lack of weight to bear. He closes his eyes for a few minutes, the flicker of the fire lulling him into some well deserved rest, but no matter how tired and spent he was, his thoughts were racing as his curiosity grew.

"Why not?"

Sansa smiles, but Levi notices how forlorn it seems, which makes him believe that she wasn't as happy as her smiles made her out to be, and for a second, he's glad. It proves that she was within his reach. He was probably a horrible person to be thinking that, but he's always known he wasn't the greatest person out there, so he doesn't dismiss it.

"I guess he wanted to shelter me away from the horrors of the world."

He lowers his gaze. "That isn't wrong."

"Hm, if you say so."

"So he kept you away from the outside world to an extent, that's not any reason to look constipated."

She laughs heartily, eyes narrowing in mischievousness. "Do I really look like that? Never mind! I don't want to know!" she quickly intervenes when he opens his mouth with a twinkle in his eyes that could've easily been a reflection of the fire, but she chose to believe wasn't. The younger girl tilts her head quizzically when she finds him staring at her still, any indication of taking a nap gone, before she realizes what he's waiting for. "Hey, I can't be the only one spilling juicy childhood woes!"

"You have to finish what you started though."

Sansa folds her arms over her chest and raises her chin. "Well I never said I wouldn't, I just said you have to return the favour."

"Tch."

"You can throw your little tantrum and glare at me all you want. My terms won't change."

Levi closes his eyes once again, ignoring her suggestive humming. He wasn't planning to tell her anything about himself, in fear of getting too invested, curiosity be damned. He could live without knowing anything about her just fine.

"Hey! Get up!"

"Shut up, brat. I'm trying to -"

"JUST GET UP A SECOND!"

He snaps his eyes open, a chilling look on his face and a mean rebuttal on his lips, when to his utter surprise she throws dirt to put out the fire.

"What the fuck are you -"

"Be quiet for a moment!"

Levi takes a deep, calming breath, counting to three in his head before he takes action against her foolishness. It's pitch dark, her silhouette barely discernible if it wasn't for his trained eyes, and to him, it looked like she was _just sitting there_ without a care in the world. But before he could get up and teach her what she could and couldn't say to him, it happened. A small, flickering ball appeared beside her, sluggishly sailing above her head, casting a glow to her blue eyes, before another followed suit. And another. And another. And another, until the entire clearing was lit up by hundreds of those floating lights, shrouding them in a comfortably bright cocoon. Levi watches, absolutely mesmerized as they dance around and between them, in a synchronized disarray, when one brushes past his cheek lightly.

"What...what are they?"

Sansa looks away from them, leveling her gaze at him. His eyes are darting everywhere, soaking it all in, and for a moment, she thinks he's the cutest sight she's ever seen.

"There are a lot of names for them, but from where I'm from, they're called fireflies."

"I see..." he mumbles, watching the small creatures soar above them. "Fireflies..."

"You can touch them," Levi tears his eyes away from them only to find her raising her hand, the flying lights gliding between her parted fingers unhindered. "They're pretty harmless."

He mimics her actions, observing their every move as a few fly around his fingers and leave chills down his arms. This was how beautiful and innocent the world above the ground could be, and it served to remind him of everything he's been through to reach that point. Levi remembers his fallen friends, and how he promised himself that he would live a life he wouldn't regret, and that their deaths wouldn't be in vain. He remembers Kenny, the man who pulled him up from his lowest point and taught him all he knew. Lastly, he remembers his mother, losing himself in his memories of her, unaware of the tear that slides down his cheek. He misses her most of all.

"Levi?"

He looks up immediately to find her seated not across from him like she was before, but right beside him, unable to wonder how and when she struggled towards him without his knowledge, since she smiles hopelessly at him as if she could read his thoughts perfectly.

"I don't want you to die."

Ironic, he thinks, seeing as she's the one who hadn't been outside the walls yet. She hadn't experienced the horrors of the expeditions, she didn't know how high the stakes were and how slow their progress was, and she couldn't fathom how much they would lose - how much she would lose - at the end of it all. Despite these fact, he finds himself thinking unrealistically naive thoughts himself.

"I don't want you to die either."

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]**

* * *

 **AN: Ouch. I bet you're glad I didn't completely leave you hanging. ONWARDS!  
**


	5. Vier - Too Close of an Encouter

**AN: Sorry in advance :D  
**

* * *

 **Vier**

 **Too Close of an Encounter  
**

 **Part III**

 **Lasting Consequences  
**

* * *

 **[CHAPTER START]  
**

* * *

"A tea shop?"

"Yes, a tea shop. Stop laughing."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just that I can't see you being...um..."

"What? Spit it out already."

Sansa swats at a branch with the long stick she picked up before they set off at dawn. "Let's say someone walks in, and they're looking for - wait, do they sell tea sets at a tea shop too? Yeah? Well they need a new tea set. And they can't choose between two different styles, what do you do?"

"Simple. I decide for them. What're you laughing about now?" Levi clicks his tongue in frustration when she hollers her laughter, throwing her head back to boot, not considering he could very easily tilt himself forward and she'd fall off his back. Come to think of it, it didn't seem like such a bad idea to him.

"HEY! HEY!" she grabs his shoulders to steady herself. "Okay, fine, I'll stop!"

"Did you have a point or is this just a game for you?"

"That's exactly my point. People don't like assertiveness, especially in businesses. You have to politely point out the pros of both and maybe a little sound advice, but it has to suit their particular need, you know?"

"In other words, put on a show and blow air up their asses."

"No, it's..."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Rolling her eyes with a widening smile, she pushes another branch away. "You could get a business partner."

Levi glances back at her. "There's no guarantee that will happen."

She stares at him for a moment, before grinning. "At least then, you'll be relieved that your secrets die along with me. When's the expedition again?"

"That isn't funny."

"Then why're you hiding your face?"

"Because I don't want to look at your ugly mug."

"Oh? But my dad says I'm too pretty for people all the time."

"Parents tend to lie to their children. It's called false hope."

"Aww that actually hurt. My poor heart."

"Maybe you shouldn't have run off to join the military."

"I didn't run! I very casually packed my stuff and left!"

"I'm surprised how you managed to get this far with your crap brain," Levi adjusts her higher without skipping a beat. "Then again, you seem to know how to take advantage of people."

"Nope," Sansa chirps, swinging her arm with now practiced ease. "You're just too kind of a person."

Levi stops in his tracks. "Hah?"

"What? No one ever tell you?"

"Have you finally lost your shit?" He questions suspiciously, turning a little to see for himself. She was holding her stick in the air with a confused expression.

"Not many people would carry around someone who'd caused them bodily harm, deliberately even. Even if you knocked me out just to do so...maybe that was a little mean..." Sansa shrugs good-naturedly. "Either way, no one has been as nice towards me as you."

Before he could respond, they suddenly hear a rustling noise ahead. Levi snatches her stick away from her and tightens his other arm on her injured leg, a little impressed when she had the sense to wrap her other leg around his waist and keep her breathing down. The position wasn't ideal for fighting, but it would have to do. They wait a few moments in silence, before noticing not an animal, but another person hiding strategically behind the shrubs, watching them.

"Who the hell are you?" Levi calls out, relaxing a little, but his arm still looped on her leg indicating she shouldn't move yet.

The unknown woman heaves herself up, pulling her skirts from the shrubs as she steps forward with a concerned look.

"I beg your pardon, sir, but I'm afraid I've gotten a little lost on my way back home and happened to see you," she eyes the girl on his back a little too closely, he notes. "You're of the military? 'Haps you could be of help!"

Levi stares at her, his fingers pinching Sansa's thigh to silence her when she attempts to respond. Sansa looks down at his head, wondering what he was suspicious about of the regal noblewoman, but follows his unspoken command.

"I live in a cottage on the mountain up North, and I have an absolutely _horrible_ sense of direction, so mind you escorting me there?" The blonde woman fans herself with an ominous giggle. "Your _girlfriend_ can come too of course!" she says as an afterthought, despite never once looking away from the younger girl. "Wouldn't want to leave the _poor injured thing_ by herself now, would we?"

"North is up that way," Sansa points out, ignoring the fingers digging into her thigh in warning. She didn't know what he expected her to do when he wasn't responding to the woman or moving an inch, but she was smart enough to know that they weren't able to help her anyways. "I'm sorry, we can't really go with you because, you know -" she gestured to her useless self with a friendly smile. " - but we'll be happy to draw a map for you and ensure you find your way back!"

"I'm sure you can take me halfway at least?"

"I'm so sorry, I promise we would on any other day, but -"

"DERRICK! DERRICK!" the woman suddenly screams, stomping around. "THE PLAN FAILED!"

Like clockwork, Levi swings the thick stick around with enough force to knock the man who jumped out from behind them off his feet, before Sansa could process it. She stares dumbly as he kicks the man brutally in the gut, stomping on his face a few times, before she has the courage to grab his raised arm with the stick to prevent him from hurting the already down man further. "STOP IT!"

"Let go of -"

Before he could finish, Sansa is pulled from his back by her hair and thrown on the ground by the unhinged woman, the force of her impact causing her to lose her breath for a second and a sharp pain burn through her injured leg. The woman sits on top of her and slaps her in the face, prior to Levi pulling her away from her and holding her in place.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU THINK YOU CAN BREAK MY SON'S HEART AND PRETEND LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ME! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE - A CHEAP PROSTITUTE! THAT'S ALL YOU ARE!"

"Hey, woman, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't know the company you keep?! This _whore_ played with my Derrick-boy's feelings and used him until she got bored of him! He proposes to her and she had the _fucking audacity_ to not only refuse his hand, but spread lies about -"

"I'm...not...Mi..." Sansa heaves, struggling to get back up. Levi stares between them, a little unsettled by what the woman was hollering about. Despite looking insane, she seemed to know her very well, and from what the injured girl was trying to say, he comes to the realization that she recognized her as well. But before he could ask Sansa what the hell was going on, the frantic woman begins to thrash around to be set free.

"SHUT UP! I'm not surprised I found you out here manipulating another boy! You always had a way of seducing men, married or otherwise!"

"I'M NOT MILENA DAMN IT!" Sansa shrieks in frustration. Levi's eyes widen at her outburst. "CALM THE HELL DOWN YOU CRAZY WOMAN!"

"NOW YOU'RE LYING THROUGH YOUR TEETH? HAH! THAT WON'T WORK ON ME YOU SAD LITTLE CUN-"

"Hey," Levi shakes the woman roughly. "Shut the hell up for a second."

There's a beat of silence between the three conscious people, as the girl in question makes it on her feet and limps toward the crazy woman. Levi watches her unbutton the first button on her blouse and pull her collar down enough to expose a small birthmark beneath her clavicle in the shape of a leaf. The woman stares at it, dumbfounded, before meeting her eyes. There's no trace of a smile on her tensely serious face, as she noiselessly challenges the woman to say something about her again.

"I...I don't understand! You look _exactly_ like her! I could've sworn -"

"What's your name?" she cuts her ramblings off, gesturing for Levi to release her, who hesitates for a second before doing so. He glances behind him at the fallen man, noting he was still unconscious before facing them again.

"Fiona..."

"Well, Fiona, as an apology for attacking us based on a hunch, could you direct us to the nearest water body? And go about your day after that?"

Fiona blushes, her hands flying around as she explained how to get to a nearby river and fervently apologizing for everything. Sansa merely nods and apologizes for her the wounds her son sustained from Levi's beating, before giving her back and limping in the direction she was told without another word. Levi follows her quietly before he's in step with her, thinking of picking her up, but one look at her unapproachable expression stops him from doing so.

They walk in grim silence, leaving Fiona and Derrick with nothing but shame, guilt, and a long medical bill.

* * *

"I'm sorry Levi."

He faces her, ringing his stained cravat on top of the water for the third time before wiping at her bare leg. They haven't spoken a word to each other since the ordeal, and she was glad he let her be in her thoughts and didn't push her for answers yet. They sat beside the river, their pant-legs rolled up to below their knees and their boots strewn about the area they occupied as he cleaned her wounds with the only piece of cloth they had on hand. She felt as miserable as she was before she enlisted.

"You have the choice not to talk about it."

Sansa watches him work diligently, before narrowing her eyes decisively and slapping her cheeks with both her hands. Levi freezes, surprise marring his face.

"Here I am sulking when there are people out there who have it worse," she states, her signature smile splitting her face in two. "I'm glad we're out here, bonding."

"You are definitely a psychopath."

"I guess so. A happy psychopath. Yup. Happy."

Levi grabs her arm, pulling up her sleeve to treat her gash. "Could you keep your shit together while we're out here in the middle of fuck all? That would be great."

"You know what else would be great? If I could never come face to face with Erwin again."

"Oh?"

"I have you to thank, honestly," she steals the cravat and flips it over to the other, clean side, reaching out to wipe his face. "What with you leading me to him and all."

"I can do it myself -" he grabs her wrist, only for her to pull it off and away from her.

"Oh shut up you big baby and quit pushing people away."

"Tch. Whatever. What did you do to Erwin."

She recalls the entire mishap animatedly, giggling here and there despite her initial annoyance of the tall man making her story come to life in the form of the activity. Levi tries not to show his amusement in hopes of not encouraging her, but he had to admit, her retelling of the way she socked him in the jaw was impressive.

"Not bad, princess."

Sansa pouts. "Don't call me that. It's gross."

"How so?"

"It just is!"

When he shoots her a look that shows she's the most craziest he's ever met in his life, she pushes his shoulder with a glare, before an idea hits her and she smirks evilly. Levi braces himself for what was most likely the dumbest thing he'll hear from her since meeting her.

"Senpai!"

"Stop calling me that."

" _Senpai!"_

He momentously initiates a stare off. She smiles widely and narrows her eyes endearingly at him without blinking to mock him, and judging from his clenching jaw, she claims victory.

That is, before he reaches over and pushes her into the river.

"You _jerk!"_ she screams and flails around, trying to get out, only for him to push her back in. "LEVI IT'S COLD!"

"Apologize."

"Screw you!"

He waits for her to plant a foot on the bank of the river before pushing her in again, cracking a smile unbeknownst to her as she struggles to get back up.

"You're getting to regret it! I swear it!"

"Sure thing, _princess._ I'm quivering at the thought."

Sansa grabs his foot and attempts to pull him in, only for him to dig his fingers into the ground and halt her plan. She takes the opportunity to jump past him and roll onto the grass, putting as much distance between them as she could and glare at him from safety. Levi heaves himself up and walks over to her to pick her up so they could start their journey once again, when he stops his cool stride to eye her. Her clothes are soaked and her hair is clinging to her battered face, which causes him to stare in disgust at her at the thought of putting _that_ on his back. Sansa realizes what he's waiting for and smirks triumphantly, before flapping about her raised arms suggestively.

"Come on Senpai, we've got road to cover."

" _Tch."_

After three more hours of walking, divulging, ignoring, snoring, harassing and laughing, they _did not_ reach HQ. They managed to find the squad deployed to search for them though. Ironically, it was Erwin's squad, and when he ordered one of the Scouts in his team to help Levi, while walking over to take Sansa himself, said girl shrunk onto the raven-haired man's back and frantically whispered for him to _not_ let Erwin have her, only for him to shot her an evil look over his shoulder, and walk halfway to dump her onto the blond man's waiting arms. The poor girl glanced up at her captor's face as he ordered the present soldier's to mount their horses, before he walked over to his own without looking down at her while he whispered something about having a _long_ ride to HQ.

Sansa and Levi never saw or spoke to one another for the two weeks that lead up to the month's expedition.

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]**

* * *

 **AN: Double whammy. Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review - it breathes life back to my creative juices.  
**


	6. Fünf - Delirium

**SHOUT OUTS TO faultinourpeeta, blaackcat, , Narabeleth Du, AND ImaBox FOR FOLLOWING AND laga2120, AND OBSESSEDwithPOWERS FOR FAVOURITING AND antisocialFox, okaytohkayy, Gugubean, AND Crash88 FOR DOING BOTH!**

 **Responses to Reviews -**

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 **THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR STICKING WITH MY POOR UPDATING! SLAP ME UP IN THE FORM OF A REVIEW AS REVENGE!**

* * *

 **Fünf**

 **Delirium**

* * *

 **[CHAPTER START]**

* * *

"...and I didn't see you until after my first expedition?"

"What do you intend to gain, drudging up the past?" Levi questions, arms falling off her shoulders. "I remember everything..."

"I'm glad...you didn't die..." she looks away from him as she wraps her arms around herself. "You're going to think I'm the most selfish person out there."

With a frustrated sigh, yet with endearingly soft eyes, he slides a hand from the top to the back of her head, while lifting her chin up to face him with the other. Leaning in close enough to feel her thundering heart, he whispers, "I already do."

* * *

 _ **Several Years Ago~**_

The Survey Corps manage to reach their intended checkpoint without too many causalities, thanks to Erwin's revised formation. Said man nods at the Commander in acknowledgement after he rolls up the parchment and leaves him, wondering if anyone else noticed how Shadis was beginning to spiral. It was blatantly obvious that the responsibility of his orders was beginning to wear on him.

"There's no sign of titans yet," Mike falls into step with him, nose twitching. "The Sun will set in a couple of hours as well."

"That's good to hear. We'll be heading out again soon."

The two men pass by the fray of soldiers running around in preparation, discussing among themselves. Erwin notices Levi from the corner of his eye tending to his horse in what seems to be absent-mindedly, before following his gaze to another squad a few steps away from him. He notes the dispirited look on their newest recruit, then breaks off from his course with a dismissive wave at Mike. The tall man doesn't miss the keen eyes that follow him as he makes his way towards the dispersing squad.

"How are you feeling, Cadet?"

Sansa casts him a reserved look, before attempting to smile, only for it to come out a little more contemptuous than anything. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Well," Erwin smirks, folding his arms behind his back. "It depends entirely upon what your idea of funny is. Do you think your pitiful state to be funny?"

She drops her pained smile and stares at him with an expression he can't place.

"I heard you took down a titan upon orders, effortlessly even. That's pretty impressive for someone who hasn't even completed their first expedition outside the walls."

 _"ALL TROOPS MOUNT YOUR HORSES! WE SET OFF IN FIFTEEN!"_

"You preform what you practice, I guess. Shouldn't we -"

"When I heard that, I couldn't believe someone as naive as you could accomplish that and did some digging."

 _"LET'S GO LET'S GO SANSA!"_

Her eyes narrow at him as she turns away from her squad leader. "Naive?"

"Imagine my surprise when I found out that you graduated at the top - and _didn't_ end up in the Military Police. Why would anyone pass up such a golden opportunity at a comfortable life?" he begins to walk, gesturing her to follow him. To his surprise, she turns on her heels and struts off without a glance, leaving him behind to watch her get on her horse and slip into position. He hears a horse gallop towards him and looks up to find Levi staring down at him with a mirthless expression.

"That was the shittiest flirting attempt I've ever seen," he quips, directing his horse to a slow trot past the man and into the formation. "And I've seen quite a few aimed at her."

"That wasn't my intention..."

As they anxiously make their way back to the walls, they barely encounter any titans at all. The Sun shines a little brighter and Sansa slowly starts to smile when the walls are in sight, never before wanting to see her father so much in her life, and as she loses herself in the thoughts of her old room, bed unmade, one too many pillows scattered all over the floor, her kitten Poopoo sprawled over the windowsill she spent most of her life looking out from, a large shadow shades her from the Sun. A cold sensation washes over her as she forces herself to look up, only to make eye contact with a titan sailing above her like a bird, a face eerily resembling a child contorted with glee, and its mouth wide open. She shrinks onto her unfazed horse, barely able to make apart the several screams from her own, when it soars past her and catches her squad member between its teeth, crunching the poor girl like a toothpick. Sansa grabs at her swords wildly, tears clouding her vision as she watches the nameless girl scream and flail for her to help, but as soon as her shaky hands touch her blades, the titan comes crashing down, releasing her comrade's remains like a dog that lost its chew toy, while the force of its fall throws her off her horse. She feels rather than remembers her body rolling around in the dirt after the impact knocks her out, but she remembers mumbling for her father to save her again as the Sun disappears for good.

* * *

 _The sky was dark and dreary, as were the soldiers burying their fallen comrades. Bent over one of them, the man sobs aggressively, his fist clenching against his chest as the heavy shower does absolutely nothing to hide his salty tears. He desperately tries to hold back his wailing as he falls to his knees, forehead hitting the moist soil he's clawing on that barricades him from her. How could he have let her die? She hadn't even experienced life to the fullest yet! She was supposed to fight, to be free, to fall in love, to have a family some day, **to live on** , not have all her dreams and aspirations be eaten alive by the fucking titans. Those senseless, worthless, lumps of flesh couldn't even fathom the impact of what they were taking away from them. What they took away from him._

 _He slams his fist on her grave, teeth chattering not with the cold brought about by the pouring rain, but by his unbridled rage, as he swore to eradicate every last one of them before he died._

 _Unfortunately, he dies shortly after her._

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]**

* * *

 **AN: Life sometimes takes you on a joy ride you never asked for, but know this, I plan to post a new chapter sooner this time. Hope you like it?**

* * *

 _ **Next chapter preview~**_

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! NOT HER! HOW COME YOU GET TO -?!"

Levi doesn't let the satisfaction of kicking Hernan Godfrey in the face show too much.


	7. Sechs - Birds and Bees

**SHOUT OUTS TO sparksfly98, BriiLeigh97,** **AND** **atena197 FOR FOLLOWING, AS WELL AS sasukesbigtoe AND atreides03 FOR FOLLOWING AND FAVOURITING!  
**

 **Responses to Reviews -**

 **Toothless02: _Thank you so much, I hope you keep on supporting!_**

 **Atreides03: _Yesss finally! My one goal in this story was to insert a character that would compliment Levi in a way where we could see him bend a little, albeit naturally. Big goal but let's see if I can keep it going. The German though was a whim, but I'm glad you mentioned it :D Thanks for the love. Keep writing as well (I see you. I feel you.)  
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 **LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO EVERYONE! IF YOU'RE TAKING EXAMS LIKE I AM, HANG IN THERE!  
**

* * *

 **Sechs**

 **Birds and Bees**

* * *

 **!WARNING! _COARSE LANGUAGE AND MENTIONS OF SEXUAL INTENTIONS._**

 **[CHAPTER START]**

* * *

Days after the expedition, she was bored.

In all honesty, if it wasn't for the broken ribs and the broken arm she sustained, she would have been on her way home to her father, and not under the watchful eye of her squad leader. In all honesty, what kind of faction in the military forbade injured soldiers to go home after a mission of that magnitude? In all honesty, Sansa was _thoroughly_ through with this - this _time out_ and she was about ready to -

 _"Get down from that window Sansa!"_

"Make me you psychotic wench!"

Ovidia throws herself on the rabid girl with a disdainful scowl, easily restraining her one good arm and shoving her down to sit on the floor. This was not what she pictured how her day-off would be like, but she would rather babysit this overgrown baby than let her go home and never return. What did it matter if she made up a fake rule in order to keep her around for longer and held her captive in the entirely empty barracks for five days? She didn't lose Clara only to lose Sansa as well, call it being selfish, but she would let her go once she was certain she'd come back.

That's what good squad leaders do.

"Listen, idiot," Ovidia glares at the hissing girl in warning, before releasing her and taking a step back. "You seem to have gotten your mobility back, but that's not enough to allow you to leave the castle."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember the damn rule. You can go now."

"Oh? And how can I be sure you won't pull that again?"

Sansa heaves herself up, her eyes trained on the older girl. "I can't stay here either. At least let me roam around the castle!"

It takes nearly a half hour, a shouting match, a crying session, and a few words of faith to convince Ovidia. Sansa is then allowed to take walks within but no further than the training area and the castle (and the stables as an added joke), and she could visit home as soon as her ribs healed. Her broken arm was up for debate, but she let her go with that win for today. The younger girl bounces up and down the halls, beaming at the few still present who walk past her with concerned looks, before she stops at the top of some stairs and looks down. They lead to the ground floor where a notice board and the gates to the courtyard were, and conveniently enough, she needed to update herself on what she missed during her probation.

As she makes her way down the stairs, she notices a few soldiers already crowding the board, and wait for them to leave, only to see Levi walk up and hover behind them suspiciously for a few moments before they look at each other and scamper off. Sansa watches him frown to himself when they leave and stare blankly at the board, and then she decides to step beside him and read the few papers on the board.

 _News, news, patrolling schedule. Hmm._

"You're patrolling tomorrow night apparently. Shame."

Levi glances at her and mumbles a non-committal, "Really?", to which Sansa nods and clicks her tongue when she notices her name scratched off three nights after and replaced with a sloppy _Barrett._

"Damn Ovidia..."

"Hey, brat, are there any other days I'm patrolling?" Levi questions rather forcibly, all of sudden in close proximity and towering over her slightly, his eyes pinning her own ones down. She finds herself looking away for him nervously and skimming through the notice to respond, when she realizes something. Why was he intimidating her to do something for him when he could do it himself?

Sansa turns towards him with widened eyes, her face devoid of her signature smile as she tilts her head and asks, "You never learnt to read, did you?"

"What's it to you?!" he snaps, glaring at her like it was her fault. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

She stands there for a second, chewing on her lip contemplatively as her eyes trail towards the notice board. She could very well help him then, but what about the next time a notice was up? Judging by how he attempted to intimidate her into telling him without question, and this revelation, he most likely hovered around people and forced them to tell him everything, and it was even more likely they'd just vomit out all the information and run off without a thought.

 _Help people who don't ask for it, and they'll help you when you don't ask for it._

"I'll teach you."

" _Hah?"_

She turns to him, her smile brightening with every blink she makes, "You're on patrol tomorrow and the day after, and I'll teach you how to read."

He rushes towards her with steely eyes, his hands shooting out to grab her collar and tug her forward. The swift pull knocks some breath out of her, as her torso burns from the strain, but her pained exclamation does nothing to quell his anger as he sneers at her. "I don't need your damn pity, got it? So be a good little girl and mind your own business."

"Can't you accept help without getting all thug on me?" she snaps back, pushing him by the chest to his surprise in order to gain back her space, while she slings her hand on her ribs with a huff. "If you didn't want it, the least you could do is say, ' _It's okay Sansa, but thanks',_ instead of acting like a total jerk!"

She storms off to the barracks, ignoring Ovidia who pauses on her reading and questions why she's back so early, as she rolls onto her bunk, turns to the wall, and blinks back her tears.

* * *

"Her name was Clara?"

"I don't understand why she and Raina never told you. They always liked to mess with our juniors, those crazy women..." Barrett trails off as he eyes the uncharacteristically depressed girl, not really knowing what he should do since Ovidia decided to turn in early without dinner and left them alone. The younger girl seemed out of it since their squad leader had given her some leeway, and it didn't help that she butchered him with questions about their fallen comrade, from what she liked to do to her upbringing, and everything he said to her seemed to make her feel even worse. Raina had taken one look at their table, at the sour redhead, before strutting off to eat somewhere else, and Sansa looked down at her now cold soup and seemed to be trying to hold back her tears. "Hey, Sansa, it's okay...we're going to continue to fight and make sure her death wasn't in vain, right?"

"Yeah..." she mutters monotonously, eyes wide and fixed on her soup. "I shouldn't regret anything..."

"That's the spirit!" Barrett encourages nervously. "Now, finish your food, so you can heal up and finally go home!"

Sansa attempts a feeble smile and picks up her spoon, forcing herself to swallow every bite despite the lump in her throat and the pain from her wounds that suddenly seem too much to bear. She just wants to go home to her father, to feel some type of security and love, and never leave him again. The world was mean and unyielding and didn't care for her kindness and her smiles. It didn't matter how helpful and present she tried to be. Stubbornly holding on to her decision to leave home when she turned eighteen despite her father's disapproval, her hard work to be at the top when she was in the training academy, enduring all the ridicule she faced for being 'naive', 'too smiley', 'too inviting' - they ceased to have any meaning after she saw the carnage _one titan_ caused. And that frightened her.

So no matter how badly Barrett probably wanted for her to be all right, she couldn't bring herself to feel better about it. Levi manhandling her triggered her emotions, and her emotions triggered everything else she kept bottled up. She laughs out of nowhere, surprising poor Barrett, when the thoughts of what her mother could be doing clouded her troubled mind - now she was _really_ going crazy.

"I'm glad you're feeling _so good_ about yourself, Brandt."

The two squad members turn to find three men towering above their table with a scoff, arms folded across their chests, and Sansa recognizes the one who spoke to her.

"Hernan, was it?" she asks a little meekly, wondering why they were looking worse than her, and better yet, why were they looking at her like she was the cause. "We met at the barracks way back, right?"

"I'm glad you remember me, Brandt."

"Uh...okay?"

" _Uh, okay,_ is that all you have to say to me? To us?" he gestures to the two beside him, quietly glaring and nodding at her to respond. She furrows her eyebrows, and shoots a quizzical look to Barrett, who shrugs and chews on his bread.

"Would you like to sit down?" she tries while gesturing for them to do so, only for Hernan to slam his fist on the table, startling her.

"Drop the fucking act you stupid bitch! You think you can smile and act nice and expect everyone to forgive you when you sent Clara to her death!" for the second time that week, she was pulled up by her collar, only Hernan was much taller so she was practically dangling from his hold and choking a little. She barely catches Barrett yelling something as her one good hand shoots out to claw at his wrists to release her. Sansa's eyes widen as she catches sight of Levi barrelling towards them from across the room, and tries to warn Hernan, who ignores her as he's lost in a hysterical fit of laughter. "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! NOT HER! HOW COME YOU GET TO -?!"

He isn't able to finish the rest of his sentence when a fist slams into his back, propelling him forward and onto Sansa who's pushed up on the table as a result. Barrett shrieks rather girlishly and moves to push the groaning man off of her when Levi roughly throws him off her himself. Hernan stumbles a little towards his friends but attempts to throw a punch, only for Levi to dodge it easily and uppercut him so hard a few teeth shoot out of his mouth.

Levi had been watching him since he made his way over to her table, wondering what he wanted from her, and when he hit her table and started yelling loud enough about some girl or the other, he was already making his way towards them. She hadn't been herself since the expedition, and more so when he treated her so roughly, and he hadn't really figured out what he should do about it (or if he should at all), but when he saw her receive the same treatment from that clumsy idiot of all people, something in him boiled over and he found himself flying over there.

Levi doesn't let the satisfaction of kicking Hernan Godfrey in the face show too much.

"S-stop!" Barrett whispers weekly, screeching a little when Levi pulls Hernan up and knees him in the groin so hard, _he_ felt it. "Someone call a squad - _ohh!_ _He's going to feel that one for months!"_

"ENOUGH!"

Levi drops Hernan without a care in the world, not bothering to see if he landed on his knees or not as he turns to Sansa who's flushing in rage, and for a second there, he thinks it suits her.

"There is something _clinically wrong_ with you!" she all but screams at him, her eyes burning.

"Is that a way to thank your loyal savior?" he mocks.

Sansa barely wastes a moment as she slaps him hard across the face, ignoring Barrett's exaggerated gasp behind her, before she casts a glare at the starry eyed Hernan, and struts off without waiting to see Levi's expression. The entire mess hall is dead quiet when Levi mumbles a " _Tch."_ before following after her.

"Well, Ovidia's going to go ballistic when she hears this," Barrett says to Hernan with a pointed look, who looks away flustered.

It takes Levi a minute to catch up to her in the hallways, and as soon as she looks back to see who's following her and makes eye contact with him, she releases a rather loud, frustrated sigh before she turns on her heel to face him.

"What? Come to beat me up too?"

"I will if you want me to."

Sansa freezes with a confused look. "Excuse me?"

"You look damn near constipated when you're lost, you know that? Maybe I should hit you to fix some sense into you."

She's quiet when he was sure that should've made her laugh, and for a second, he doesn't know what to say or do to get her out of whatever state of shit she was in, but to his surprise, she reaches her one good hand and pulls his right hand towards her before examining it. The soft pads of her fingers trace the red bruises on his knuckles as she sighs tiredly. "I'm sorry."

"What're you apologizing for now? The slap, or-"

"No, you deserved the slap," her fierce eyes pin his own down in a rare show of seriousness. "What kind of person gets mad at someone who did the same thing they did themselves? You beat the poor guy bloody!"

"He deserved it," he takes a step forward, nearly sneering. "That piece of cuck trash should watch who he puts his hands on." Levi notices her eyes softening a little, and bristles. "Don't tell me you're going to go..."

"I will apologize to him, yes," she admits while looking down, to his growing anger, before she raises her head again with a blank look. "I did to you, it's only fair."

"Bullshit."

"Watch me."

Levi glares at her for a whole thirty seconds, before pulling away and walking back down the hall. He didn't understand her at all, and he was beginning to get frustrated with that notion. If it wasn't for that pig, he would've done things differently, and if it wasn't for that princess, he would've had things differently. The only thing he knew was that he didn't deserve anything, and that thought left him cold and burnt out at the same time.

Before he turns the corner, a small hand touches his shoulder to stop him, and when he looks back, Sansa is giving him the most genuine, heart-warming smile he's seen on her since the expedition, and he barely registers her pulling him the other way until they're at the end of the hallway and turn the other corner.

"Where are you taking me?" he finally questions as they climb the stairs, thinking of all the places this path lead to, before the gears in his head screeched to a horrific halt. Levi twists his arm out of her hold and catches her wrist to turn her around, his lips unusually dry when he meets her quizzical eyes. "Are we going to fuck?"

To his chargrin, she tilts her head with an innocent smile. "What does that mean?"

"What game are you playing now? If you want something-"

"I'm going to grab a jacket. I was planning to take you up to the roof," she explains carefully. "What does 'fuck' mean exactly?"

"..."

"Stop staring at me like that! Did I say fuck weirdly? What does it mean?"

"Just go get your jacket."

Sansa narrows her eyes at him before stomping away, muttering a "I'll find out soon enough, and when I do..." then bursting out laughing as she disappeared into the barracks, while Levi loses himself in his thoughts. When she returns, jacket tied around her waist and smiling from ear to ear like no altercation had happened mere minutes ago, he stops her from leading the way and looks her dead in the eyes.

"You wanted to know what fuck means huh? I'll show you eventually."

* * *

 **[CHAPTER END]**

* * *

 **AN: Long chapter meant to bribe you all to forgive the tardiness ;D  
**

* * *

 _ **Next chapter preview~**_

"What do you mean -"

"Exactly how I said it. She jumped off a mountain with a pure heart and all the love she could ever offer, only to demand to be carried back up there in exchange for her body and her heart." the younger girl pauses for a second, shoulders falling as she whispers, "And her child."

 **If I'm evil and you know it leave a review! (clap clap.)**


	8. Sieben - Honesty Hurts

**Author's Note, replies to reviews and shout-outs at the end of the** chapter.

* * *

Sieben

Honesty Hurts

* * *

[CHAPTER START]

* * *

Levi had no idea what she wanted from him when she decided to take him to the roof, and so he resigned himself to wait patiently for her to break the deafening silence. Moments turned into minutes and minutes into several more, still no word from the fidgety girl beside him. He tries to steal a glance, only to find her staring at him already. A small smile graces her face as she turns away to look up at the starless sky. She seems a little more relaxed as she leans back, but he can't be too sure.

And as she wipes her sweaty palms on her jacket, she forces out all her worries and anxiousness in a breath, just like her father taught her to when she was too scared to say something.

"I want you to be honest with me."

Levi snorts, truly not expecting that. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No, I..." Sansa trails off, taking another breath, and Levi wonders if the air was messing with her lungs. "I guess you're a relatively honest person but...uh, withholding information in a way is the same as lying, you know?"

"No, I don't."

They stare at each other for a beat, before she shies away and fiddles with her fingers on her lap. It was as if all the progress - for lack of a better word - he'd notice her make trying to pull out from her detached facade had been obliterated in those few moments, and the only person to blame was himself. If he had gotten to them faster, he could have saved her squad member too, could have avoided seeing her blubbering and crying in horror as she scrambled to do something about it herself, could have caught her before she hit the ground and tumbled like she was weightless. If he had been able to remove the pain he felt in his chest after he was told she was still alive, he could have visited her and maybe put her at ease. He always hated the death toll after every expedition. The thought of them dying in vain plagued his mind constantly and pushed him to be at his best, to make sure nobody died in his vicinity if he could help it. He could hone that pain and anger, but the pain he felt that day was different. It could have been the time they spent together in the woods, but when the thought of her dying was made into a possible reality he knew he'd have a hard time bouncing back from it. So he didn't visit her. If he had held back a little when she approached him by the notice board, if he was a bit more delicate, or -

"I like you."

The gears in his head screeched to a halt.

"Everybody either messes around with me or treats me like a kid who doesn't know better, and I'm sick of it. At first I thought it was because I was new and nobody would trust me until I proved myself, so when I took down a titan and Ovidia and a few others told me I did well, I was happy." Sansa looks down just as he looks at her. "But, when I made that mistake and...it was as if it all meant nothing.

My point is, you've been very consistent, and I don't want that to change. You're the only one who holds me accountable for stuff I deserve, and without that, I would've...so me offering to teach you how to read wasn't anything beyond an attempt to get you to...like me too..."

The silence that falls between them brims with tension, and sure enough Sansa wonders if she had made the right choice in being honest with him first. But before she could regret her decision, a warm hand falls on her head, and as she looks up to meet his eyes, a blush blooms on her cheeks when he ruffles her hair with a pout, before decisively shifting his gaze away from her.

"I'll teach you something too."

Her eyes light up and she smiles easily as she questions, "Anything I want?"

Levi blinks. That was a quick shift. "Sure."

" _Oh_..." Sansa laughs nervously, her hand reaching out to tap his on her head as a noiseless cue, despite shifting closer to him. "That's a little overwhelming actually...I don't think I want it."

He drops his hand and leans back unbothered. "If you say so -"

"Wait, no, nevermind, there's actually something I want you to teach me!"

Levi raises a dark brow, curious to know which skill she'd be interested in. From what he could tell, she seemed competent enough at using the gear and taking down titans - if he were to guess, he would say combat training. With the right push, she could become a force to reckon with. Yeah. That sounded good to him.

"I wanna learn how you hold your tea cups."

".. _hah?_ _"_

"I remember trying to do it the first time I saw you, and I broke a few cups," Sansa confides with a sheepish smile. "It's a lot harder than it looks so, that."

"...you're even more psychotic than I thought," he mumbles lowly, eyes narrowed. "That's not a skill you need to learn."

" _Oh?_ What is it that I need to learn then?"

"How to fight."

"I know how to fight!"

The face he makes causes Sansa to sputter in indignation.

"Fight me!" She jumps to her feet and takes a few steps back, her frustration slowly building as he rolls his eyes and looks pointedly ahead, ignoring her. "Come on! It's getting cold!"

"Then put on your jacket, brat."

"Not until you _fight me!_ I didn't make the top of my batch without knowing how to fight!"

Levi cocks his head back. "I'm not going to fight you, so come here."

Before she could respond, the door to the roof swings open, and two scouts stumble out. Sansa stares at them comically push each other, bottles swaying in each of their hands as they slam the door shut before realizing she was there. They share a meaningful smile as they approach her. "You're Brandt, right?"

"Yes..." she replies cautiously, standing at her full height. Their suggestive smiles drop as they take a few tentative steps back, and to her shock, they bolt out of there, without a backwards glance. Sansa blinks, before turning around to see if Levi saw what she saw, only to find him standing right behind her with a menacing glare. His steely eyes shift down to look at her, shaking her head. "You're horrible, Senpai."

"Don't call me that." He throws a punch. Sansa catches his fist before it hits reflexively in surprise, before smirking when his eyes twitch a little. It was barely a second's hesitation before he's twisting her only hand behind her back and pressing it down. "You call this fighting?"

"Ow _ow my ribs hurt!_ Stop it!"

"Hmph." Turning her around to face him, he notes the pouty look and can't help the tug on his lips. "Don't pick a fight when you're clearly injured."

"You sound like my dad," she throws his hands back to him and steps towards the roof. " _Don't sleep on a horse or you won't be allowed out again!_ Ugh, what a pain."

"..."

"I was joking! I joke! You know what that is right?"

"..."

"Are you really going to stand there looking at me crazy all night?"

"Have you met you?"

"Have _you_ met _you?"_

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Yes! Exactly! Who believes someone who doesn't know what fuck is, _really?"_

Levi takes a threatening step forward. "Sansa."

"I mean," Sansa continues, a satisfied smile growing. "Do I seem so innocent, or am I just that good of an actor? Either way, you're adorable."

 _"Sansa."_

With her eyelashes fluttering meekly, yet with a smile dripping with mischievousness, she hums, "I'm holding you onto that promise."

* * *

[CHAPTER END]

* * *

 **AN: Hello people. I'm back. I'm sorry about the random hiatus – ffnet started crashing on my side and deleting all the chapters I had saved so the frustration of it all kinda killed my flow. I'm sorry once again. Now that I've somewhat regained control of this (i.e. I'm using my phone to type and publish chapters), do expect more frequent updates.** **If you spot anything amiss, I apologize for that, since it's really hard to keep the same quality I had on my laptop on my phone now.**

 **Also, since I was gone a long time, I've decided to post two chapters at once! Let me know what you all think in the reviews!**

 **Edit: I lost the list of new followers, so just a general shout out this time. Thank you all for following and favouriting this, and I hope I don't disappoint!**

 ** _Replies to reviews:_**

 **Atreides03:** _you think so? He is still a cadet - this is set a little after he joins the survey corps, when he's just starting to prove himself. I awkwardly laughed at the irony of your review, what with the disappearance and all... sorry. Thank you for dropping a few kind words though!_

 **Guest:** _wait no longer! Sorry about that, and thank you for reviewing!_

 **Dark Mystique:** _Thank you thank you and I hope you like these two chapters! Sorry for the wait!_


	9. Acht - Prelude I

**No AN in the end. Please review if you have the chance!**

* * *

Acht

Perlude I

* * *

"Lovely girl, petite, a doll, with a mane so fiery, it seems unnatural..."

The poet takes a moment, eyes shut and expression dreamy, while the girl in question takes a chance to glare at her father beside her. This was the last straw. He had sworn that she would have no man beyond one of his choosing, and she was okay with that. She had accepted her fate. But why did they have to be so...boring. One after the other, her father had presented to her every flavour of noblemen she'd assumed existed, and one after the other she would find a reason not to marry them, for the common denominator that sealed the deal when she'd be given time with them was that they were all boring, passionless men. Tasteless, tacky, boring, passionless men.

"Sweet girl, oh so fair," moaned the poet, "what I would give to touch your pu -"

"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!"

The poet stops and the table of people look over the flushed girl in bewilderment. The room is dead silent, save for a boy muffling his chuckles by the help. The maid stationed beside him reaches over and slaps him upside the head.

"What's wrong, daughter?" her father clasps his hands on the table in warning. "You've completely startled our guests."

"My lord, if I may finish, I was about to say _puritanical_ hair." The poet supplies, fighting the pleased smirk off his face. "What did you _assume_ I was about to say?"

The young girl offers a plastic smile as she gathers herself. "Excuse me, father." She curtsies before rushing out of the dining hall, outraged shouts of her name following her until she made it outside. The air is cool and pricks her flesh like little needles on a cushion, and she wonders for a moment as she hugs herself if she could sneak past the guests and get her coat from her room. She knew better than to hide out in closed quarters until the party was over, as someone would corner her and make her go back, but she didn't think she could brave this cold any longer.

"Hey there!"

She turns around, just as a huge blanket falls on her head and kills her oxygen. Slowly tearing it off but keeping it on her shoulders, she glances up to meet a kind smile, and even kinder brown eyes.

"Your eyes are pretty."

The boy laughs awkwardly as he scratches his flushed cheeks. "I bet you say that to all the other workers."

"No," she tilts her head innocently, hugging the blanket to herself. "Just kind men who provide me with warmth."

"I bet your dad has pretty eyes too then huh?" His chuckles trail a little as she watches him expressionlessly, before coming to a complete stop. The air picks up a little and she hugs herself a bit more, red hair flying around her face. "Hey, why don't we go inside? I don't want you catching a cold."

She looks up at him, blue eyes shining, as she leans over and touches his red face. "You were the one laughing back there, weren't you?" He gulps a little when she licks her cherry lips, anticipating her reaction. "What's your name?"

He's thrown off a little, but recovers quickly with a boyish grin. "I'm Jarvis Brandt, my lady, thank you for asking!"

His kind expression melts her enough that she sheds a tear, unbeknownst to him as he rambles on and on about his family and how he's trying to earn money to buy his own farm, and she finds herself smiling her first genuine smile in a long while. She felt it, his passion. "Jarvis?"

"Ah, yes?"

"Would you like to marry me?"

"W-w-w-what?!" He shrieks, flushing brighter than her hair. "I mean, I've always had a crush on you, and I did want to ask you to m-marry me once I got my farm together, and, uh, this is moving backwards!" he heaves in one breath, looking everywhere but her eyes. "I, uh, I am in love with you and yeah. Okay. Let's get m-m-married. I would love yo- THAT! I love that. And you. Yes."

"Great," she wipes her own flushed cheeks, giggling a little as her dead heart begins to race with life again. "Then let's go tell my father."

"...huh?"

Before Jarvis could fully process what she'd said when she took a hold of his hand and marched back into the compound, he had already ended up standing in front of the party and the lord of the estate.

"What is the meaning of this?" her father asks calmly, waving away the people beside him dismissively. "Where did you go, daughter? And why are you two hand in hand?"

"I have decided that I want to marry him."

"No."

She sucks in a breath, her eyes dangerously furious, as she tightens her hold on his hand. "I said, I have decided, as in, this is not a request. I cannot see myself accepting anyone else to touch me ever again."

"Hey..." Jarvis whispers sadly.

"YOU STUPID GIRL!" her father loses his bearings, throwing his glass of wine at her, only for Jarvis to step in front of her protectively. The glass shatters on the side of his face, cutting his temple, and the guests standing witness gasp and murmur among themselves in disbelief, but that barely makes the angry man falter. "IF YOU WANT TO ACT LIKE AN ADULT, FINE. YOU CAN GET OUT AND BE AN ADULT!"

"Father -"

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! FROM THIS MOMENT ONWARD, YOU ARE NOT MY DAUGHTER. GET OUT! TAKE YOUR STABLEMATE WITH YOU!"

The now disowned daughter puffs out her chest, blue eyes steely and mocking, as she twirls around and drags her fiance out of her home.

"YOU MAY THINK THIS FUNNY, BUT I WILL **ERASE** YOU FROM EXISTENCE! YOU, YOUR STABLEMATE AND YOUR BASTARD OFFSPRING WILL NEVER KNOW PEACE SO LONG AS I LIVE!"

"Wow," Jarvis whistles, matching the quick girl's pace. "Your father is a real loon."

"I...I didn't think this through, um, where can we go?"

"That's all right sweetie, now that you've flown the coop, I'll take care of you!"

"Flown the what?"

He smiles patiently. "Nevermind. Let's go find a pastor."

She pulls his collar down and kisses him. "I love you too."

x

Years had passed since the day she'd announced her intent to her father and he had disowned her so easily. Her first years spent wedded to Jarvis were nothing short of loving, supportive, and passionate, as they worked hard to earn money and managed to buy off some land in the West of Wall Rose to turn into his dream farm several years down the line. He was dedicated to his dream and she was dedicated to him, and it was perfect.

Until he began to quit his jobs and focus solely on the farm.

She had managed to convince him after a while to hire help when the funds were barely matching the bills. It took a while and a whole lot of arguing, but eventually Jarvis caved when his lovely wife began to cry about his lack of attention. He had always felt guilty taking her away from her lavish lifestyle when they were kids and not being able to give that to her, but he had promised to always give her his love, and he would never forgive himself if he slipped up there too. So he listened. He hired the first young man that answered his ad in the town to work the field while he tended to the few horses they owned.

A few months in, the couple grew attached to the young boy, offering up a room meant to be for the child they planned to have on nights where it wasn't safe for him to go home alone. With his growing love for the boy, Jarvis started to see him more and more like a son rather than an employee. He would insist on the boy taking breaks and do the farm work on his own, until he was back where he started - manning the farm by himself, only now with an extra mouth to feed. He had gained a reputation in his area and they were living more comfortably than they ever were, so his wife couldn't complain. Slowly, his guilt was fading away.

When he returned home after a successful day in the market, with a few sweets for the young boy and a bracelet for his wife, he stops dead in his tracks. There, on his dining table, lay the boy he thought of as his son -

And his wife fucking him.

The sweets and the bracelet hit the ground, the sound of the silver and plastic meeting the wood falling on deaf ears, as he watches his wife encourage the boy he's doing better than her husband ever did.

xx

Years had passed since the day he caught his wife cheating on him with a boy he had hired to help around the farm. These few years spent rebuilding the trust between them were tough, especially since they'd been unable to produce a child of their own. Jarvis had worked hard enough to expand his farm and give his wife whatever she desired, and that had helped their intimacy issues immensely, but alas, she hadn't gotten pregnant yet, and it was tearing them up inside. His wife often blamed herself and left home when their arguments seemed endlessly repetitive. He threw himself into the arms of his farm and worked until he could no longer stand. She would come back later and later everyday, and he couldn't blame her for escaping from the monotony of it all. Life had hit them hard, and they were unhappy.

Jarvis tried his best to rekindle the passion that was once burned brightly in her blue eyes. He'd invite her to help him around the farm, he'd take her around the city, he even bought her a little journal to release her anger in a more healthier way, and promised to never look in it. It was slow, but she was steadily becoming herself again. The woman who left her life behind for him. The one he loved.

Their prayers were answered soon after, and they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.

Jarvis had never known he could ever love something as strongly as he loved his daughter, when the midwife put her into his arms and his tears mingled with her own. His cries matched hers as he rocked her against his chest with a stupid smile that reached the sun, his wife watching with a satisfied smirk of her own, as she ushers the midwife to help her up.

They settle down for the night, their baby sleeping soundly in the cot he had built months ago. His wife traces the scar on his temple with a delicate finger, sighing peacefully.

"She's so quiet."

Jarvis chuckles, wrapping his arms around his wife. "She cried her little face off! Of course she's going to want to sleep and regain her energy. I'm sure she'll be cooing in the morning."

"I've heard many stories of motherhood, and let me tell you now Jarvis, our girl is going to grow up to be lazy."

"She's only a few hours old," he pouts, not liking the thought. "She won't sleep so much if I'm still around."

"Mhmm."

"Do you want to go see your father?"

"What?!"

"I only just met our baby girl, and I can't imagine ever being away from her. That will never happen. Any man who would want to marry her would have to fight me for her."

She rolls her eyes. "You'd just crush all the boys! She'd never be married then!"

"That doesn't sound too bad...and I'm certain that's what your father would've wanted had he gotten his way back then."

"Fine. I'm only going because you insisted."

"Thank you." Jarvis places a kiss on the crown of her head. "Although you were probably the one who crushed more boys then him."

"Ha-ha."

xxx

Years had passed since the birth of their baby daughter, and Jarvis couldn't be more stressed. Despite everything finally working out between them, ever since she'd visited her old home in Sina, his wife insisted on going out from time to time, often for days with no word of warning. Jarvis didn't want to tell her what to do in fear of her snapping again at him, so he dedicated his time to raising his daughter and working on the farm. It was tough on him, and for a while, his sales were declining and his wife was disappearing more often and his daughter kept asking where her mother was going, but he managed to deal with it all. He was a man after all, and his daughter was depending on him.

After a while, his wife had been doing better too, playing with their daughter again and going out a little less. She'd began to be herself again. But this time, Jarvis had more to lose than just his wife if she decided that they weren't enough anymore. His daughter would lose her mother. So, when she decided to take their daughter out to buy a new dress, Jarvis went to work going through her things. He felt sick about it, breaking his promise to her, but it had to be done. He'd looked through her clothes, her jewelry box, her vanity, the bathroom, but he couldn't find anything out of the blue.

As soon as Jarvis decides to let it go, he remembers the journal he had given her years ago.

When they return home in a fit of giggles, a shopping bag on each of their arms, she finds her husband sitting stiffly in his chair, her journal opened up to the last entry on the table.

"Sweetie, go to your room."

"Okay..." the young girl stares between her parents, feeling the tension in the air.

Jarvis waits until he hears her bedroom door closing upstairs, before his steely brown eyes locks on his nervous wife.

"Who the hell are all these people in your journal?" He picks up the journal and reads the names aloud. "...Karl, Matthew, Derrick, Uri, Grayson, Matthew, Derrick, Matthew? I know Matthew is that poet who was serenading you the night we ran away together, but who are all these other people? And why are there dates next to their names?"

"...Jarvis, listen, they don't mean anything to -"

"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN FOOL ME AGAIN?! ENOUGH WITH ALL THESE LIES!" He throws the journal at her feet. "GET OUT!"

"Jarvis, please!"

"GO SEE YOUR DARN BOYFRIENDS! GET OUT!"

xxxx

The young girl stirs when she hears something in her room, and when she opens her eyes, a smile already stretching on her face thinking it's her father here to say goodnight, only to meet the eyes of a strange man smirking weirdly at her. She watches confusedly as the man puts a finger on his lips and makes a "Shuuussh!" sound, before looking behind him at her open door and then facing her again with a smile.

"Hi there. I'm a friend of mommy's."

"Oh," the girl nods acceptingly. "Where's mommy then?"

The man smiles, pleased with her reaction. "Mommy is waiting in the living room, and she asked me to come here and get you, so, is it okay if we go see mommy together?"

"Okay."

"You're a brave little girl, aren't ya?" the strange man coos, grabbing her hand and walking down the stairs with her in tow. "So much like your mother..."

"Hey mister, aren't you daddy's friend too?"

The man freezes for a second, smile waning as his hand tightens on her wrist. "Yes, little one, we're all...friends. And I'll be really happy if you'll be my friend too."

"Damn hell, Matthew, shut the fuck up and bring her over here!"

"Mommy?"

"Hi sweetie!" she smiles at her daughter, bending down on her knee. "Come here."

The young girl notices a large bag by the couch, with her new dress nearly spilling out of it from the top, and watches her mother's friend hoist it up over his shoulder and wait at the open door.

"Listen, sweetie, remember our talk today in the market? The one about going away for a vacation in the inner wall, with all the pretty dresses and toys and sweets?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The young girl looks behind her and sees her father leaping down the steps, whom missing a step trips and falls on his knees. She tries to go to him, but the strange man grabs her arm, and pulls her back. Her father worn from the days' work, can barely stand on his feet, and stumbles back down to his knees, as he calls for her.

"Please! Let her go! She's my only daughter!"

"See, I told you your stupid dog would catch us before he left. The damn bloodhound."

"Shut up, Matthew!" she screams in fury, scaring the little girl, who tries to escape the man's hold.

"Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"PLEASE, LET HER GO! SHE'S ONLY SIX!" her father crawls towards them, eyes watering with unshed tears. "I BEG OF YOU! DON'T TAKE HER AWAY!"

"Sweetie," her mother pushes the man away, before staring into her daughter's eyes.

"Can daddy come too?"

"No, daddy is too tired. He just needs to rest for now, and then he'll catch up with us in the morning!"

"No..." Jarvis cries, blubbering as he drags himself to move. "Don't take advantage of her innocence like that! Look, I'll do anything! You can come home, and you can have your fun out there, but please don't take my baby girl away from me, please! I've been good to you, I've tried everything to make our marria-"

The strange man kicks her father in the face, forcing the scared girl to struggle against her mother's hold. "STOP IT! LET ME GO!"

"Listen to me!" Her mother spins her back around. "Tell me now, sweetie. Do you want to come with me, or stay with daddy?"

"I..." the girl looks at the strange man fearfully. "I don't know..."

"Please -"

"Then tell me, who do you love more?"

"Daddy." The girl replies easily, to her mother's shock.

"Oh!" Jarvis chuckles humourlessly against the wood of the floor.

"Seriously?!" she shrieks, standing up and pushing her daughter on the ground like a toddler who lost a battle. "I can give you anything in the damn world, and you would choose this stupid farm over me? Your mommy?"

"I didn't _choose_ the farm, I said, _daddy_. Daddy never leaves me."

"What a fucking brat." The man guffaws. "Sounds just like you."

The girl scrambles away from the pair and runs into her father's arms. "It's okay now. I got you."

"And here I thought she'd be a little less boring than you," the woman jeers, getting to her feet. "I want to say you take after your father, but who knows?"

"It's over now, Milena." Jarvis says, shielding his daughter's ears as much as he could. "I will never wait for you to come home again, and you will never see my daughter."

"Can we leave now?"

"Yes, Matthew. Just one more thing."

Milena walks over to her husband sensually, a satisfied little smirk on her face when he tightens his hold on his daughter and glares at her. "No matter how much you shelter her and try to protect her from the cruel world we both know, she'll only grow to want freedom even more. So good luck, Jarvis. She'll either be the most disabled little bird, or she'll hate you forever, and when that happens..." Milena smiles sadly, petting her daughter's bright red hair peeking from beneath her father's hold. "I'll always welcome you to my side with open arms, Sansa."


End file.
